Multiverse
by Pennatus
Summary: Ginji x Ban, slash. The Brain Trust couldn't figure it out. The algorithms were perfect, the math infallible, the system unflawed. What they didn't realize was that one simple truth caused those failures: in those worlds, Ban and Ginji never met. spoilers for the end of the manga


So I just finished re-reading the Getbackers manga when the thought of alternate universes popped in my head and I just had to write these down. All the information comes from Wikipedia and the characters from Getbackers and I own neither.

Please, enjoy and tell me what you think!

-.-

Ginji knew the truth now, even if he thought it was nothing but a dream.

What he didn't know - what he couldn't know - was that there were a thousand errors in the Archiver before a world could be created.

The Brain Trust couldn't figure it out. The algorithms were perfect, the math infallible, the system unflawed. And yet, it didn't work. It never did. Somehow, somewhere, the system failed. A thousand tries, a thousand dimension, lost and broken in their search to leave a mark on the world.

What they didn't realize was that one simple truth caused those failures: in those worlds, Ban and Ginji never met.

It was that simple and perhaps that's why they overlooked it. The same bond that would one day destroy their aspirations was the one that could create it.

Other things were different as well. A world where Ginji died young in the attack from the Beltline. A world where Ban never inherited the Snakebite. A world where a chance encounter meant Paul and der Kaiser never met. A thousand worlds, a thousand possibilities, all of them not quite right.

But when the perfect mix formed, when the coincidences piled up, when everything was just right - when Ban Midou, wielder of the Evil Eye, finally met Amano Ginji, the Lightning Emperor, the system clicked. It worked.

No, more than that. It was more than an existence - it was alive. It had a will of its own. It had thousands of wills, each stronger and more resilient than the last. It was a world that was unlike any other, even the one it was modeled after.

And all because of one simple meeting. Simple? No. That's not right at all.

"...ne, Ban-chan, you still awake?"

"..." Ginji could tell he was, just by the slight change in breathing.

"...I was thinking..."

"Dangerous." Ban's tone was low, deep, and amused, and Ginji could tell he had been about to drift off by the huskiness in his voice. It sent shivers down his spine.

"...about...us." He glanced over to the driver's seat (they were sleeping in the Ladybug, again), but all he could see was the outline of Ban's form and the glint of his purple lenses.

Ban didn't answer but Ginji didn't expect him to, not until he was ready.

"...about where we would be if we had never met."

Now Ginji could see his eyes slowly open, those blue irises cold in the lamplight, his face neutral and composed. Ban was always composed, as though showing emotion was somehow a weakness he was determined not to reveal. Sure, he may joke around, but Ginji knew that under that laughing facade was this darker side, always waiting, always watching.

"Why are you thinking about something like that," and really it wasn't even a question.

"I dunno...something up in Babylon City made me think of it, I guess."

"That was just a dream, Ginji." The tone clearly said the conversation was over.

Ginji hesitated to continue but something pushed him to. "...but what if we hadn't met? What if I was still Raitei? What if I was still in the Infinity Fortress..." Ginji trailed off.

"The multiverse."

"What?" Ginji was happy to listen to Ban talk in his deep voice, still slow from being pulled from rest.

"Hypothetical set of multiple possible universes, including our own, that together comprise everything that exists and can exist: the entirety of space, time, matter, and energy as well as the physical laws and constants that describe them," Ban recited drowsily and lazily and Ginji relished that Ban felt relaxed enough in his presence that he didn't feel an urge to bring himself from the edge of sleep.

"...I don't understand, Ban-chan," Ginji confessed, although it really wasn't a confession at all.

"It's a theory that says that there are alternate universes just beyond what we can see or touch. Max Tegmark gave the different dimensions four levels...in level three, he argues that for every possible outcome that can be observed, a different dimension is created. So somewhere out there is, hypothetically, a world where we never met...though many scientists are doubtful about the multiverse."

"You're saying...that Ban-chan, you're leaving me?!"

"Moron," he drawled and Ginji smiled as the other didn't even move. "Say you have a dice, and you roll a six. What about the other five choices?"

"But...they don't matter, you didn't roll them. You rolled a six."

"Yet you could have rolled any of the other numbers. It just so happened that you rolled a six. The possibility that you could've rolled any other number exists, or rather, existed. So an alternate dimension is created in that instant - five other dimensions, where in each one you rolled one other possible option."

Ginji never really understood basic algebra, let alone quantum mechanics, and this instance was no exception. "...why don't I just roll six dice at once?"

Ban's blink managed to convey an eye roll. "I should've known an idiot like you would never get it."

"But, Ban-chan, why would I not meet you?"

"You're the one who asked me. I'm saying that there might be a world where we didn't meet."

Ginji glanced out the window at the stars. "It's not this one, though."

"Of course not, moron."

"I feel bad for all those other Ginjis, who didn't get to meet their Ban-chans," Ginij continued.

Ban didn't answer but Ginji watched his small, genuine smile curledd his lips. Electric blue eyes slid over and Ginji answered with a grin.

"...why the hell'd you wake me up, then," Ban huffed, his voice a bit clearer.

"Cuz you weren't asleep," Ginji answered.

"Hmph. C'mere." I need payment for your stupidity, was the under text.

Happily Ginji crawled over to his side of the car and pressed his lips to Ban's, who reciprocated gently, as though he didn't have the energy to go any further.

Ginji was content nonetheless to simply lift Ban up a bit and wrap his arms around the slender figure underneath him.

Ban was limp and complacent in his arms, his skin cool against Ginji's palms. Ban's skin was often cool, reminding Ginji of a snake. Sometimes (rarely) Ban would simply lay out in the sunlight, basking in the glow. Then were the only times that Ban's skin would be warm to the touch and also when Ban was most compliant, as though the heat had seeped into his very bones and made him lustful as well as lethargic. Ginji loved those moments when his lover felt free enough to cast aside their need for money and his own deep seated battle lust just to lie in the grass for awhile. A few times Ban had actually fallen asleep and Ginji got to watch the battle genius as he drifted off, watch as the perpetual lines smoothed from his face and from around his eyes. It was days like those he loved best.

Ban looped his arms around Ginji's waist and leaned his head back, the slender curve of his neck suddenly revealed in the pale moonlight. Ginji just watched as Ban closed his eyes again.

"Go to sleep, Ginji. And hold on to your idiotic ideas until morning."

Ginji rests his head in the crook of Ban's neck, feeling more comfortable here in the arms of his lover, the murderer, than anywhere else on Earth. "Night, Ban-chan."

"Mmm."

Really, it didn't matter. All those other Ginjis were lonely, but Ginji here had his Ban-chan and that was all that mattered.


End file.
